Brewer and distiller join forces to produce hand sanitizer

April 8, 2020, Victoria, B.C. – Vancouver Island Brewing (VIB) and Stillhead Distillery Inc. are working together to flatten the COVID-19 curve.

VIB is donating excess draught beer to be stripped and turned into hand sanitizer by Stillhead Distilling.

Without a distilling licence – a necessity for the production of hand sanitizer – and with an excess in unsellable beer, VIB searched for a local distillery that could utilize its excess draught beer supply to manufacture the highly in-demand disinfectant.

“Our team was unanimous in that we would use what supply we could to help meet the manufacturing demand of hand sanitizer,” said Danny Seeton, production manager and R&D Brewer at VIB. “We began reaching out to our contacts and were connected with Stillhead Distiller Inc. through an industry group chat. We’re truly all in this together so it has been a delight to donate our product and do what we can to support our community.”

Stillhead Distillery hand sanitizer can be purchased online or by local pick-up. Costs are $10 per 375 ml. bottle or $20 per 750 ml. bottle.

“Once the announcement was made that authorized distilleries to produce their own hand sanitizer, we committed ourselves to making it a top priority,” said Brennan Colebank, owner-operator and distiller at Stillhead.

“We were thrilled that Vancouver Island Brewing was keen to work with us and donate their beer supply to our production. As small businesses, we understand the importance of coming together to support one another and our communities, especially during challenging times like these.”